Hygiene issues at Marina beach

Marina beach is said to be longest beach in Asia and is most visited by Chennai residents and tourists. If you're visiting this place and more importantly buy juices here, this post is a warning.

Ice distribution at Marina:
All over India, manufacturing ICE and distributing it is one big unhygienic affair. Ice cubes are covered in gunny bags and distributed. Local retailers break big cube into smaller ones and distribute to small merchants. They are stored and transported without any additional cover/packaging and are exposed to weather all the time.

In Marina it goes one step ahead. Beside gunny bags, ice cubes will be sand treated. Bigger blocks of ice are broken into smaller ones and distributed among traders, who carry it to their shops on their cycles or other vehicles. It will be the same ice that will be added to your juices, so beware.

Vendors do not have any regret in this action. While I was clicking the pics, I got some remarks like "Take take... take pictures and put it in TV... tambi, pose for the photograph..."

Sugarcanes is another story. You can find lots of sugarcanes left unattended on the sand behind these stalls. All through the day and night, these are exposed to sun, rain, dog's urination, salty sea breeze and everything else nature throws on them.

Ragpicker selecting useful items from a sugarcane stack

Though most of the machines are covered during night, some are left unattended.